UCLA student tasered twice by abusive campus cops

[Grimmlok]

UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.

No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.

The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.

The student began to yell "get off me," repeating himself several times.

It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.

UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.

Video shot from a student's camera phone captured the student yelling, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your fucking abuse of power," while he struggled with the officers.

As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said "stop fighting us." The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.

"It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life," said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.

As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.

Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present in the library during the incident, said police officers threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an officer for his name and his badge number.

Gordy was visibly upset by the incident and said other students were also disturbed.

"It's a shock that something like this can happen at UCLA," she said. "It was unnecessary what they did."

Immediately after the incident, several students began to contact local news outlets, informing them of the incident, and Remesnitsky wrote an e-mail to Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams.

http://dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=38958

there's a video somewhere

[SVZ]

The university police on my campus are all white guys with little dicks and massive egos. Not to mention that every single guy on the football or rugby team, heck even swimming team is stronger than them.

[AliceInWonderland]

yeah I saw this on the news last nite (try http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10325914/detail.html for video of the segment) and it was really unnecessary and totally fucked up. You don't taser someone 5 times; that could kill almost anyone. I hope justice is served in this case and those LAPD flunkies (campur rent-a-cops) are all fired and punished.

[LynnieD]

Excessive much?? What the hell is their problems?? Oh, like SVZ said, tiny dicks.

[Daphne]

It was overkill, but the student should have left. Security checks like that are done for the safety of other students. As a librarian, I sympathize with others in my profession who have to deal with unruly patrons.

[A*O]

Bolshy smartass students need to be kept in line. Was his 'medical condition' terminal stupidity?? They told him to leave - he didn't leave and gave them 'tude - ZAP!!

[Daphne]

^Exactly. I also love how he mentioned the Patriot Act when it had nothing to do with him being asked to leave.

[Grimmlok]

Tazering someone when they refuse to get up is exceeding your powers. That's civil disobedience. Threatening to taser onlookers is also exceeding your authority.

They'll be out of a job in a week.

[AliceInWonderland]

watch the video and you'll see them use excessive force. Why do I call it excessive force? because no one needs 5 shots to the chest; thats overkill. Those things are deadly.

[JamieElizabeth]

Originally Posted by SVZ

The university police on my campus are all white guys with little dicks and massive egos. Not to mention that every single guy on the football or rugby team, heck even swimming team is stronger than them.

This comment really cracks me up because it is so true. My ex's father had a private security company, just like this, and his son has turned out to be a jerk. It's unbelievable how others think it is their "duty" to do such horrific things.

[Grimmlok]

well! go ACLU hehehehehe

"It is a real mistake to treat a Taser as some benign thing that painlessly brings people under control," said Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney at the ACLU of Southern California.

"The Taser can be incredibly violent and result in death," Eliasberg said.

According to an ACLU report, 148 people in the United States and Canada have died as a result of the use of Tasers since 1999.

During the altercation between Tabatabainejad and the officers, bystanders can be heard in the video repeatedly asking the officers to stop and requesting their names and identification numbers. The video showed one officer responding to a student by threatening that the student would "get Tased too." At this point, the officer was still holding a Taser.

Such a threat of the use of force by a law enforcement officer in response to a request for a badge number is an "illegal assault," Eliasberg said.

"It is absolutely illegal to threaten anyone who asks for a badge [number]," that's assault," he said.

www.americablog.com

[JamieElizabeth]

Oh no, and look at the last name. Tabatabainejad . It looks like a prejustice to me.

[Grimmlok]

Well brown people just need to be tazered more.

[A*O]

Tabatabainejad

Isn't he the president of Eye-ran?? ZZZZZZZZZap!

[Grimmlok]

how the fuck do you even pronounce that

Taba-tabain-ejad